Senkisenki author kept drawing after his house flooded

The story of Senkisenki had a much harsher backstage than its success suggests. Ethen, writer of the manga serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine since June, gave an interview to Oricon News in which he reveals that his house suffered serious damage from this summer's torrential rains. And even so, the storyboard did not wait.

The water first entered the family's main house, where his parents live. Ethen evacuated them as best he could to the new house, but that second house also ended up with water under the floor. While they bailed water with buckets, the author kept thinking about the weekly installment.

"I could only laugh. During a meeting, with the kids making noise behind me, I looked down and the water was already up to my feet."

He built the new house ten years ago, when he was 40. He invested almost all his savings and covered the rest with a 35-year loan. Now, at 50, he juggles the mortgage with a career that is finally taking off.

More than 3,000 rejected storyboards before the debut

Ethen's path to Weekly Shonen Magazine was not straight. He started making a living with adult dōjinshi, worked at Nippon Ichi Software as a character designer, and debuted in a commercial magazine past 40 with Aka no Grimoire. After that, silence.

His proposals did not pass the editorial filter. He went back to dōjinshi to support his family while piling up rejections. He talks about more than 3,000 discarded storyboards.

"There was a time when nothing moved forward and my spirit broke. But giving up was never an option."

His obsession was clear: to draw a shōnen manga. He wanted a work his 9- and 5-year-old children could be proud of. And he wanted to be in the same magazine that published Kyojin no Hoshi and Ashita no Joe, two titles his mother knows.

A tandem with a rookie artist that worked on the first try

In Senkisenki, Ethen does not draw. He handles the script and leaves the art to Kawasaki Ryūga, a rookie artist who came through the magazine's editor-in-chief. The decision was practical: he wanted the art to have the visual sensibility current readers demand.

"Kawasaki-san can bring my storyboards to life in the best possible way. I trust that his young line will connect better with today's audience."

The bet paid off. The first collected volume was published in September and had a reprint before its release. The second reprint was confirmed on the same day it went on sale. Volume 2 arrives on November 17.

The synopsis of Senkisenki follows a young prisoner of a conquering king who aspires to become a sennin, a being with supernatural powers, to free his people. Battle fantasy with classic ambition.

Ethen closes the interview with a phrase that sums up his moment: "The reprint has me completely fired up. There is a mortgage and there is a family. Now it is time to make this more and more interesting and work for my children."

Did you know Senkisenki or is it new to you? Tell us in the comments if this story of sennin and warring kingdoms catches your attention.